Marking machine



y 3, 19 J. F. BARGHAUSEN 1,965,276

MARKING MACHINE Filed Feb. 27, 1929:

Patented .luly 3, 1934 HTED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1,965,276 MARKING MACHINE Application February 27, 1929, Serial No. 343,140

4 Claims.

(Granted under the act ofMarch 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) This application is made under the act approved April 30, 1928, and the invention herein described, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without payment to me of any royalty thereon.

lviy invention relates to an inking and marking machine of general application, but the primary function of which is to mark with suitable legends, carcasses or portions thereof, of animals, in order that the different classes and grades of meat may be readily identified by the prospective purchaser and consumer thereof. Without such identifying mark the average person who is lacking in experience in classifying meat would be unable to determine the quality of the meat.

One of the principles of the invention is to provide an improved device of the class just referred to, whereby the marking liquid may be evenly spread upon the irregular surface and will imbed itself below the surface of the animal carcass or other object by the positive action of the inking roller, when the roller is caused to rotate by traveling over the surface of the material that it is desired to mark. Another object is to provide ready means for regulating-the feed of the marking fluid to the roller. Another object is to provide a revolving brush that makes contact with the inking roller and removes all of the tallow or fat, or other matter that may congregate in the metal letters of the inking roller and which tend to clog such letters, the brush being positioned in such a manner as to clean the metal letters before they are inked. A still further object is to provide a device of the class described that is simple in construction, easy to operate and efficient in service.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal perspective view of the marking machine; Fig. 2 shows a longitudinal side view of the same.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that 1 illustrates a hollow frame having two parallel members or arms 2. The frame 1 is provided with a handle 3. A wheel or roller 4 is journaled between the arms 2 on the pintle 5 with knurled cap 6, which passes through the arms and is held in place by left handed thread '7 in arm 2. Tire 8 suitably of metal is aflixed on the wheel 4 and provided with a periphery embossed with metal letters 9.

A felt roller 10 is afiixed on a pintle 11 forming trunnions engaged in slots 12 in the walls of a housing 13 afiixed by means of rivets 14 to and extending above the frame 1. Coil springs 15 held 'at one end by pintles 16 in arms 2 and at the other end by pintles 11, hold roller 10 against the periphery of wheel 4, with sufiicient firmness to insure the uniform and even distribution of ink from said felt roller to said wheel 4.

Pivoted as at 26 in the housing 13 is another wheel 2'7 adjacent roller 10 and wheel 4, and provided with brushes 18 that contact with letters 9 when the marking device is in operation. This wheel 27 is provided with cog-wheel 19 that meshes with and is actuated by cog-wheel 20 affixed to wheel 4, through cog-Wheel 1'7 bolted as at 28, and provided with nut 29.

A revoluble inking pad 21 provided with pin-' tles 22 is also supported by housing 13. This pad 21 works in slots 23 in the housing, and coil springs 24 attached to pintles 11 and 22 hold the pad firmly against felt roller 10 so that when roller 10 is rotated, motion is imparted to pad 5 21. A guard 25 is aflixed to handle 3 to prevent the operatives hand from coming in contact with the inking pad and to catch ink that may drop from the pad.

It will be understood that in operation an operative pulls the roller 4 over the carcass or other object to be marked. The rotation of the roller 4 rotates the felt roller 10 and the brushing wheel 27 as Well as the inking pad 21. Any tallow, fat, or other material that may congregate in the letters 9 is removed by the brushes 18 and such letters are accordingly freed from such objectionable material prior to the time that they come into contact with the felt roller 10.

I claim:

1. In a portable carcass marking device, of the character described, a cylindrical imprinting wheel adapted to be drawn along a carcass to imprint indicia thereon, said wheel having raised characters each terminating in uninterrupted knife edge carcass engaging edges adapted to impart traction to rotate the wheel as it is drawn along the carcass, and also to penetrate the car cass to enable printing, an inking roller, and 100 means actuated by rotation of the wheel to cause the inking roller to apply ink to the penetrating portions of the characters, a brush mounted for engagement with the wheel characters to clean them of tallow collections, and means actuated 105 by rotation of the wheel to impart rotation to said brush.

2. In an apparatus of the character described,

a cylindrical imprinting wheel adapted to be drawn along a carcass to imprint indicia there- 1 on, said wheel having raised deep cut characters each terminating in substantially uninterrupted carcass engaging knife edges adapted to impart traction to rotate the wheel as it is drawn along the carcass, and also to penetrate the carcass to imbed printing, means to apply ink to the penetrating portions of the characters, a rotatable character cleaning brush having peripheral contact with the imprinting Wheel characters, and means active upon rotation of the imprinting wheel to cause said brush to revolve with its peripheral portion moving in a direction opposite that of the characters which it engages.

3. In a portable carcass marking device, of the character described, a cylindrical imprinting wheel adapted to be drawn along a carcass to imprint indicia thereon, said wheel having raised deep cut characters each terminating in substantially uninterrupted carcass engaging knife edges adapted to impart traction to rotate the Wheel as it is drawn along the carcass, and also to penetrate the carcass to imbed printing, an inking roller, and means actuated by rotation of the Wheel to cause the inking roller to apply ink to the penetrating portions of the characters, a brush mounted for engagement with the wheel characters to clean them of tallow collections, and means actuated by rotation of the wheel to impart rotation to said brush.

4. A portable meat marking device, comprising a frame, a handle rigidly secured to the frame, a cylindrical imprinting wheel adapted to be drawn along a piece of meat to imbed indicia thereon rotatably mounted in the frame, raised deep cut characters each terminating in substantially uninterrupted meat engaging knife edges rigidly attached to the circumference of said cylindrical imprinting Wheel, an inking roller rotatably and adjustably mounted in said frame, tension means to hold said inking roller in a position to contact the knife edges of said deep cut characters, a brush rotatably mounted in said frame in engagement with the deep cut characters to clean them of tallow collections and means actuated by rotation of the wheel as it is drawn along the surface of a piece of meat, to impart rotation to said brush.

JOHN F. BARGHAUSEN. 

